The Too Young series: Driving me crazy
by Diana2122
Summary: Ziva has been forbidden by Gibbs to drive any vehicle and she is determined to make him change his mind.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Driving me crazy

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on NCIS, I'm just borrowing them for the story.

**A/N: This story is part of a series where Ziva is nineteen years old and has been assigned as Liaison Officer to Gibbs' team (just like on the show). I wrote "Staying Focused" as the first story about a younger Ziva and I've had to make some changes in that story to make everything work better as a series. "Staying Focused" is still included in the series though of course. **

**The first change is that Ziva is nineteen, not twenty three and I have my reasons for making that change. The second change is that in this series Gibbs only administers Corporal Punishment to Ziva, (because of her age and the fact that he has taken responsibility for her training and safety) not the rest of the team. The third and last change is that "Staying Focused" takes place at the beginning of season three, not the end of the season. **

**In this story the team has been informed of Ziva's age. I also plan on writing a story showing that happening later.**

**Thanks to Abbyfan09 for some great suggestions that lead to me writing this short story about an event six weeks after Ziva joins**_** THE**_** team at NCIS. **

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"But why not, Gibbs? It's not like I'm new to it. I _have_ done it before."

"No."

"I have too."

Gibbs gave her a stare that would have sent shivers running down her spine if she had not been so worked up and focused on proving her point. "I wasn't referring to you driving, Ziva. I meant that my answer is no, no matter what you say."

Ziva leaned back in her seat inside the NCIS truck and felt a slight pout coming on even though she did not want it to. "But you have not even given me a reason to why you will not allow me to drive during work hours." she objected stubbornly. If the discussion had been about something else she would have dropped it by now, at least for the time being until she thought Gibbs would be more open to discussing it, but this was important to her and she wanted an answer right away. He owed her that much since it had been six weeks since she had last driven any vehicle. He had no right. At nineteen years old she was old enough to drive even according to the laws of America.

She glanced at Tony sitting next to her in the truck with a smirk on his face. He had not stopped teasing her about her not being allowed to drive since she drove home from the crime scene on her first day of work at NCIS six weeks ago, and almost, as Gibbs had chosen to call it 'killed the entire team'".

Obviously her silent wish for him to choose not to tease her about it in the middle of her discussion with Gibbs was not granted. "Come on Ziva, don't be sad, we can always get you a little kid bicycle if you're good." he grinned broadly.

"Shut up Tony! Stay out if this if you know what's best for you!" she hissed between clenched teeth and turned back to Gibbs.

"Oo I'm so scared." Tony teased her, making his hand shake in front of her face to deliberately provoke her.

She punched him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him for a few seconds. He coughed loudly and glared at her.

Gibbs had had enough. Between Tony and Ziva's bickering and Ziva's nagging about wanting to drive he was getting a headache. And both the bickering and the nagging had been going on since they left the NCIS building.

"Alright you two knock it off!" he yelled, hoping it would at least have some effect on them.

"But Gibbs..." came the response from both of them in unison.

That was it. He veered the car to the side of the road and pressed down hard on the breaks, pulling the truck to a sudden halt. Both agents paled, both because of the sudden movement which made their stomachs almost send their breakfast back up, and because they knew their boss was now extremely angry with them.

Gibbs turned so he was facing them as well as he could from the drivers seat. They were both staring at the road in front of them, frozen in place, eyes wide open. "This is my last warning. Tony stop teasing Ziva. Ziva -" she turned her head a little to look at him. "NO DRIVING! And that is my final decision. Now, if I hear ONE more word from you about driving you will be riding in the back of the truck the rest of the way." He glanced at his watch, "and we have at least another hour left to drive until we get to the crime scene so I'd watch it if I were you. It's not very comfortable back there." he remained still for a minute, waiting to see if either one of them would dare to protest. When it didn't happen he turned the ignition and headed out on the road again, enjoying the silence.

Tony leaned back and pulled his NCIS cap down so it covered his eyes a little, hoping to catch some Z's. Ziva was lost in her own thoughts, looking out the window. She did not feel Gibbs had the right to keep her from driving. She had tried talking to the Director about it, hoping to perhaps get her on her side and then ask her to convince Gibbs to let her behind the wheel again. But she had actually agreed with Gibbs. Ziva just could not believe it. Jenny had driven with her before. So she should know she was a capable driver. But the older woman had insisted that the final decision was up to Gibbs and even if she had not agreed with him she still would not go down that road with him over it. She also insisted it was not a big deal, because Tony and McGee could drive and when they were all out with Gibbs he pretty much always drove the car. So it wasn't necessary for her to drive. Ziva was feeling more and more annoyed over the nerve of those two. How dared they treat her like a little kid. She may only be nineteen years old but she was not twelve. She should be able to drive if she wanted to. For a moment forgetting Gibbs' earlier threat she spoke up:

"You know Gibbs, I really do not think you or the Director are within your rights to keep me from driving since I am of legal age to do so even..."she got no further before Gibbs dropped his foot on the pedal once again, pulling the car to a halt. This time however he did not bother to veer to the side first, but stopped in the middle of the street, causing all other cars behind them to have to drive around them to avoid collision.

Tony's cap flew off and he awoke with a jerk, looking up just in time to see Gibbs get out of the truck and slam his door shut. "Where is the boss-man going?" he asked.

Ziva gulped.

"You didn't just continue to bug him about the driving, did you?" when she didn't answer he just laughed out loud, "You are so dead."

Just as he said that the door right next to Ziva was pulled open violently and Gibbs appeared at her side. She stared at him, realizing then what he was going to do, "Oh come on Gibbs." she said pleadingly. He reached to unbuckle her seat belt and then grabbed her upper right arm and pulled her out of the truck. Her feet had barely made contact with the ground before he started to roughly pull her to the back of the truck. He unlocked the door and hoisted himself up, then reached down, grabbing Ziva's arm again pulling her up there with him. He pointed determinedly to the floor. "Take a seat." he growled brusquely.

"Gibbs I did not mean it. I just forgot what you said earlier," she yammered.

He just continued to glare at her, waiting for her to comply. He was not the kind of person who made empty threats and that was something he intended to show her. The girl huffed a little but stepped over to the wall and leaned against it as she began to lower herself to the floor. She stopped when Gibbs held up his hand. He took off his jacket and placed it on the floor for her to sit on. Then he signaled for her to take a seat and as she did so he jumped out of the truck and resumed his place behind the wheel. He did slow down the speed considerably for the rest of the trip though, not wanting to risk Ziva being hurt from bouncing around because of his driving.

Tony sat quiet next to his boss, listening to his muttering about how they were never going to get to the crime scene at the speed they were driving in. He turned his head to glance into the back of the truck. He didn't want to gloat because Ziva was looking kind of sad where she sat huddled on the floor. But that girl sure did have a way of getting into trouble.

**To be continued**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Driving me crazy**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I'm just borrowing them for the story.**

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**_Chapter 2_**

"Aah Jethro, finally you arrive. We were expecting you at least twenty minutes ago. May I ask what was the cause of your unexpected delay?"

They had arrived at the crime scene and Gibbs had parked the truck close to the hill the victim had fallen or positively been pushed down. They were in a national park standing next to a hunting cabin in the woods.

Gibbs put on his NCIS cap and greeted the M.E with a pat on the back. "Sure, Duck." he said as he walked fast to the back of the truck and unlocked the door.

The experienced medical examiner stared in utter disbelief at the sullen figure appearing at the door. Gibbs reached out his hand to her but she just pushed it away and jumped down by herself.

"Ziva, what are you doing riding back there? Is this another Mossad- thing?" the older man asked.

Tony joined them and started to grab the necessary gear from the back of the truck. "No, Ducky, I believe it's a Gibbs- thing." he chuckled and earned himself a smack to the back of the head from his boss.

"Ouch!" he yelped.

"Gibbs locked me in the back of the truck, Ducky!" Ziva exclaimed accusingly while glaring at Gibbs. She clearly had not enjoyed the rest of the ride to the crime scene.

"By heavens Jethro! Why would you do that?" he put an arm around Ziva's shoulders and brought her closer to him. "And what about that reason to your tardiness you were talking about?"

"You're looking at it, Duck. Ziva here decided to disregard an order after I warned her what the consequence would be and therefore earned herself a ride in the back of the truck. That caused the delay. "

"Oh." he said, giving Ziva a slightly more stern look than a few seconds earlier.

Tony looked up from the equipment he was collecting, "Boss perhaps next time you should make her _run_ next to the truck instead. I would love to see for how long she could actually keep _that_ up." he yelped as his boss' hand made contact with the back of his head for a second time.

"You itching for a ride of your own in the back of this, Tony? Because we still have a ride home too you know."

"I'm going to start working now, Boss." he sprinted down the hill to the corpse of Petty Officer Harold Lamb whose death they were about to start investigating.

Gibbs handed Ziva the camera and gave her a push in the direction of the body. Still pouting slightly she took off after Tony.

Ducky looked inquiringly at Gibbs, expecting an explanation.

"What?"

"You know what, Jethro."

"She's been telling me she wants to drive but there is no way in hell that's going to happen."

"Why not?"

"Have you seen her drive, Duck? Sometimes she doesn't even know what side of the road to be on. She drives way too fast. She doesn't have enough control of the vehicle. She's dangerous behind the wheel." he grabbed his jacket from the floor of the truck and put it back on. "I'm not about to risk her or the rest of my team by letting her drive. "

Ducky scratched his chin in thought, obviously not liking what he was hearing either. "Well, have you talked to her and explained why she's not allowed to drive, Jethro?"

"What's there to explain? An order is an order and she will obey it or she will end up with one sore backside. That should be enough motivation and explanation for her to do what she's told."

Ducky nodded. "Yes of course you are right, Jethro. You are her boss and an order should be obeyed."

Gibbs sighed, looking in the direction his agents had taken off in. He needed to get down to that body before they messed up the crime scene. With McGee home in bed with a fever, Ziva still inexperienced and her and Tony having one of those days when they seemed to be enjoying tormenting each other, he really needed to get down there.

"I'm sensing a 'but' about to come out of your mouth, Ducky."

"Yes, you are as always correct. An order is an order..._but,_ Ziva is still a person who needs to be handled with a big amount of patience. She is used to following orders but she is also used to operating alone and she needs to know why she is not permitted to do what she has always done. So to avoid tears and perhaps an expensive car accident that would have to be explained to our Director, I believe it would be in everyone's best interest if you took the time to explain to the girl why you have come to your decision about her not driving."

Gibbs could not believe he had said all that without taking a single breath. "Fine, Ducky. I will talk to her." he took a step in the direction of the body and then turned back, "_After_ we examine the body and our crime scene."

**To be continued**


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Driving me crazy

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on NCIS, I'm just borrowing them for the story.

A/N: The last chapter of this story is up and this is a small Christmas present from me to you. I would like to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS! And please give me a nice little Christmas present-review after you read this. It would make me very happy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!

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CHAPTER 3

Gibbs, Tony and Ziva entered the bullpen and the two younger Agents started putting their weapons away and taking off their coats.

"Tony, put out a bolo for that black Van. Ziva! With me!"

Ziva looked up and froze for a second, thoughts going through her head on what she could have done now. She had not brought up the driving issue the entire way back to the office and all she and Tony had bickered about was what to order for lunch. Gibbs usually cut them some slack regarding bickering over lunch orders since they had such different taste when it came to food that even he could understand why they felt the need to argue about it at times.

"Today Officer David!" he called out, rounding the corner to the more private space by the stairs.

"Sounds like somebody is in trouble again." Tony said in a teasing tone while he sat down in his chair. "What'd you do this time? Hide the boss-man's car keys?"

Ziva picked up a box with paperclips and tossed it at him in anger. Suddenly she felt a hand grab her wrist and she spun around and stood face to face with an angry Gibbs. He didn't say anything but he didn't need to. It was obvious he was out of patience...again. He pulled her determinedly by her wrist over to the space by the stairs. He placed himself in front of her and stared at her until she finally looked away.

"When I tell you to follow me," he tilted her chin so she was looking at him again, "you DO IT. Without delays. Without pointless arguments with Tony." he put up a finger and held it close to her face. "And WITHOUT throwing office material across the bullpen! Is that clear?!"

Ziva dared not look away. She just nodded and shifted uncomfortably under his stern gaze.

"Answer me."

"Yes, Sir." she said in a clear voice to show she was paying attention.

"Good. Then I say that is settled." he held her gaze a moment longer and then let her look away. He could hear her give a small almost not audible sigh of relief. She began to turn, ready to get back to work when he stopped her. "I didn't say you could leave."she looked back at him in confusion. "I wanted to explain a few things about my decision regarding you driving." he could see a small sign of hope appear in her eyes and held up a hand, "That is not the same as saying I can be persuaded, Ziva. My decision still stands." the hope disappeared.

"But Gibbs! I love driving and I need..."

He wasn't interested in arguing with her about this again so he got straight to explaining his reasons, ignoring her protests. "You are dangerous in traffic, Ziva. You don't have enough control of the car or of what's going on around you. Sometimes you look at the person sitting next to you for fifteen seconds or more before you turn your focus back to the road in front of you. You drive too fast..." he continued.

That was where Ziva drew the line. "And that is supposed to come from you! The master of driving too fast!"

Gibbs glared at her. Okay so she could have said that better.

"I'm trying to do this the nice way, Ziva. But I'm not in the mood for attitude. Another comment like that and you'll find yourself over my knee at the end of the day."

She gulped, knowing he meant what he said. Not wanting a sore bottom she clamped her mouth shut and listened to what she mostly saw as unwarranted criticism.

"I could make the list longer from what I've both heard and witnessed you do as a driver. But I won't. I just wanted to let you know what I've based my decision on." he took a step closer to her. "You are not allowed to drive any vehicle. If I see or hear that you have...you will find sitting a very difficult task for a week. Am I making myself clear, Ziva?"

"Yeah, I hear you." she said as she sighed. She had hoped to be able to persuade him but it didn't look like that was very likely to happen. He seemed determined to keep her from driving. "So, you're saying I will never drive for as long as I work for NCIS? That is not fair Gibbs!" she couldn't help adding the last comment.

"I didn't say you can never drive as long as you work here. I am however saying that you will be taking driving lessons and receive a certificate which you will then show me before you'll be allowed to drive."

Her mouth fell open. "What?! You cannot do that!"

He raised a brow at her tone. "I just did. And watch the tone."

She opened her mouth to speak but was actually afraid of what might come out so she closed it again and just glared back at him.

"And don't even think about appealing to the Director because she will agree with me. Or at least she will after I've spoken to her which I will do before we leave here tonight."

They stood, staring at each other for at least sixty seconds before Gibbs felt it was time to speak and put an end to their little meeting. They had a killer to catch.

"Are we clear on the rule, Ziva? And what I expect you to do?"

She thought about it for a few seconds but found that there was no point in objecting at the moment. "Yes." she said reluctantly and looked away.

"Good. Then get back to work. We have a killer to catch."

She started to leave but had only taken a few steps before stopping at hearing Gibbs' voice. "Ziva, I better not catch you driving before you show me that certificate. Understand?"

She nodded and spun around again and continued walking away from him. Making her way over to her desk she accidentally knocked the trash can over in her anger and unfocused state. She slid down into her seat by her computer, looking like she was about to boil over with anger. She looked up as she felt her coworker standing over her. "What?!" she yelled in an agitated voice.

"What did Gibbs say?" Tony asked. He was feeling a little guilty over getting Ziva in more trouble by upsetting her right before her talk with their boss.

"That I am still not allowed to drive and he told me I have to take driving lessons and get a certificate to show I have learned to drive before he lets me."

Tony glanced at her and noticed that she wasn't squirming or looking uncomfortable where she sat so he felt it was safe to assume Gibbs hadn't punished her. Therefore he felt it was within his right to at least tease her a little.

He grinned, "Oh, well, we've all been through that."

"You have?" she sounded utterly surprised.

"Yeah. He did it with me my first year too and most other Agents he has trained."

Ziva just stared at him, picturing Tony proudly presenting his certificate to Gibbs, not to mention Jenny doing the same thing in her days as a probie. Somehow it made her feel slightly better though.

Tony smirked as he could see she was buying it. "Right after he made everyone dress up like pelicans and run around the office pretending to fly." he said and burst out laughing at his own bad attempt at a joke.

Ziva's face grew red, at first with embarrassment over having been tricked by her partner, and then from rage. Stepping around his desk, while he laughed banging both fists on the top of his desk, she grabbed the back of his chair and quickly tipped it backward, sending him falling to the ground with a squeak of surprise and a loud 'HEY!'.

"You bastard!" she yelled and spun around and walked back to her desk with angry strides.

"I thought I just told you not to mess with office equipment." Gibbs said as he entered the bullpen with his usual stealth. He had trouble hiding his grin though at seeing DiNozzo sprawled across the floor, legs above his head, trying to regain his dignity.

"You did not say anything about coworkers." she stated defensively.

"Boss, Ziva..." Tony began his allegations.

"Don't bother Tony. I have a feeling there was a pretty good reason you ended up where you are."

Tony got to his feet and lifted his chair up, placing it back behind his desk and taking a seat as he glared at Ziva the entire time. "You certainly know how to drive someone crazy." he grumbled.

"You have no idea, DiNozzo." Gibbs said as he glanced at the girl, keeping herself busy by her computer with her head held high.

The End


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